"Delaying UK defense cuts will bring disaster quicker"

Mirage 2000 fighter jet from the Istres military air base approaches an airborne Boeing C-135 refuelling tanker aircraft (not pictured) on March 30, 2011 during a refuelling operation above the Mediterranean sea as part of military actions over Libya. (AFP Photo / Gerard Julien) / AFP

The UK is giving 100 million pounds of emergency funds to its military forces to support the Libyan campaign, despite the cuts agreed in October's defense spending review.

The move comes at a time when Britain is dramatically slashing social spending.

With Britain’s involvement in a new conflict it is impossible to stay at the level of defense cuts decided upon last year. The defense ministry needs extra funding, but the government has too many obstacles in providing it.

“The first one is how to ensure that this extra money will not seem like a rethinking of last year’s defense review. The government remains adamant that this is not going to happen. The excuse being made is that it was impossible to predict the conflict in Libya. But isn’t the defense review supposed to plan ahead? The last review was finalized in 1997… Another obstacle is to ensure that other governments do not feel left out. To avoid this the Ministry of Defence and a treasury made a deal that actually does not include more funding for the MOD,” says RT contributor Ekaterina Zatuliveter.

“So, we are looking into predicting the next 10-15 years. And yet just a few months after the current defense review was finalized it is no longer valid,” says Zatuliveter.

Speaking on the issue she also said that from her point of view “a good thing about it is that the treasury seems to be flexible, seems to be willing to rethink if necessary. But the bad thing is that further delay in the cuts will only bring disaster quicker.”